I Need a New Title
by Under-The-Gun
Summary: A new friend arrives at the tower, and he's interested in Starfire. He's allowed to live with them, and that means new battles with Slade. But is he all that he seems? (I suck at summaries, just RR please! )
1. Chapter One

Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans, and that totally sucks for me. If I did, I would either have a romance between Starfire/Raven, or someone other than Robin. And I'd give Blackfire more screen time, because she roxxorz.  
  
This is just a fanfic I'm working on currently. This is really just what I think about when I day dream.  
  
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Chapter One  
  
John walked slowly down the sidewalk. Carrying as many of his possessions as he could fit in a black duffel bag, slung across his shoulder, he made his way from his last dwelling that has served as his home for the last four weeks. This "dwelling" was more or less an abandoned warehouse that John did little more than sleep at night in. These days he spent most of his life wandering around the city, with nothing else to do. He crammed two pairs of his favorite jeans, two of his most comfortable boxer shorts, two pairs of socks, along with his two favorite shirts. He also fit his most prized possessions into it, barely. Two sandalwood gripped revolvers, along with cleaning equipment for them. Not exactly what a fourteen year old should be carrying around, but he didn't care. They were his, and he came to love the fire arms; practicing with them regularly and taking good care of them.  
John had been alone most of his life these past few years, walking aimlessly around the country, looking for work and a home, and generally being downtrodden. After his parents died, he had been put in an orphanage. Since that didn't suit his liking too well, he decided to leave it all behind him and try to start a new life.  
'All I have to do is find a new place to stay.' He thought to himself. 'I'll be able to get a job working for some fast food place or something. So it's not like I'd have to be there all the time...Which might help persuade whoever I'll be staying with. And I'll be damned if I'm gonna sleep on the street like a bum, or in another empty warehouse. Those things scare the fuck out of me. Three pairs of clothes total, and I'll be able to buy new clothes once I find a place and a job. Maybe I'll be able to go to a real school too. Street smarts aren't as good as you would think...' John currently had about two-hundred dollars, stashed away in his wallet. He'd been saving it ever since he had been a wanderer (this money usually came from passersby that seemed sorry for him on the nights where he had fallen asleep on a bench. After finding money waiting for him, John quickly began to sleep on park benches more and more, quickly finding enough money to buy his current cache of rather clothing).  
Still walking, he noticed a large building in the horizon. Built in the shape of a large 'T', this building seemed to tower above all others, yet be at least a mile away from the closest building. 'Wear have I seen that before...? And what kinds of people live in giant letter-shaped buildings? I can almost remember...some important people...well known....Wait! That's the Teen Titan's place! Now I remember. Robin, Beast Boy, Cyborg, Raven, and...Starfire...' He thought of the last name with a certain feeling of a kind of nirvana...sweet and beautiful, was this girl. '(My God she is pretty...) If I go there, I'll most likely be welcomed...My chances rise even higher should Starfire answer the door.' There was that feeling again. John wouldn't admit to call it love, he didn't even know her, the closest thing to that was what he'd heard and seen on the news. 'I've heard she's supposed to be so nice and gentle. That kind of person could never refuse a down-on- his-luck kinda guy like me...could they? I'll have to be careful about what I say, and make sure I don't look like some sort of ruffian.'  
That would be easier said than done for John. Trying to keep up with fashion, he wore baggy jeans, at least 3 sizes too big for him, which threatened to fall whenever he walked (not to mention run) if it weren't for the single belt he had and wore. White shoes, with white laces, kept nearly spotless were almost hidden under the cuffs of his pants. Completing his attire, were his sunglasses (which covered up chocolate-brown eyes), and a red and white tee-shirt, worn over a long sleeved yellow Starter brand shirt. Black hair added to his look, flowing across his head in gentle waves and partially covering his eyes with its length at times. 'My dad always said I dressed like a hoodlum...I always thought he was exaggerating, but now that my chances of finding a new home ride on how I look and what I say, I'm not so sure. I guess I'll just have to find out then.'  
He began walking in the direction of the giant tower, switching his bag from right to left shoulder every ten minutes to prevent any aches. His shadow was almost completely gone, and the sun was directly above his head, which ment it was noon. He expected to make it to the tower in about an hour of walking. No use running there. Sweating, panting, and out of breath would probably decrease my chances. He thought. And since they ARE teenagers, my age most likely, they probably wouldn't be up by now. At least I wouldn't be.  
  
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So, like it? Or not? Please R&R, no flames, constructive criticism welcomed. Also help with how the story line should go would be appreciated. 


	2. Chapter Two

Disclaimer: I still don't own Teen Titans. And if I did, I would force the animators to give me some Starfire/Raven yuri (yes, perverted, but I don't care)  
  
R&R this story, constructive criticism is welcomed, but not flames. If you flame, I'll tell you how much of a douche you are and how much you suck at writing, because that's what you deserve to be told if you don't respect other people's work.  
  
Words in ""= a character's speech  
Words in ' ' = a character's thoughts  
  
Chapter Two  
  
When he reached the tower, he was even more amazed by the sheer size of it. He ventured a guess, thinking it must be at least ninety stories. 'Why in God's name would they need all this room? How can they afford it? Rewards must be high for criminals in this city because I'm sure as hell they wouldn't be working in order to pay for all this.' The tower itself was located on a small patch of land, which broke off from the city with a small road leading to it. Several gardens, varying in size were located around the entrance and the tower. 'Well...here I go...' He thought to himself, as he walked up to the door, and knocked. He waited. Waited...no answer...'Well no crap Sherlock, the place is farking huge, how could sound carry that well so they could hear it?' He looked around the door, and after several seconds, found what looked to be some sort of two-way intercom, with a monitor above it. 'So they can see who their talking to and I can see who I'm talking to...'  
He pressed the button marked "talk" and did just that.  
"Um...Hello? Is anyone there?" he said.  
More waiting, with a long silence. Finally, the intercom buzzed to life, as the monitor turned on, and a face appeared. Lucky for John, it was indeed Starfire, and her serene, cheerful voice filled his ears.  
"Why hello, may I ask who this is and what it is you request?" Starfire said, a smile on her face, her emerald eyes glowing.  
'Oh my God...she's beautiful. Eyes of emerald...hair of ruby...skin of gold...and what a smile....I am not worthy...'  
John just stood there, looking at this fallen angel, jaw slack, eyes wide. He immediately loved everything about her. Starfire was indeed beautiful, and naturally so. She had no need for any form of cosmetics, not that she would even be familiar to the concept of make-up. She still had much to learn about Earth and its customs, which John figured, from the not- so-hard-to-miss fact that she was an alien of some sort. Still gaping, he slowly took one step back, and fell to the ground in a sitting position, still dumbfounded by the girl on the monitor's screen. He let out a grunt as he hit the ground, loud enough for the intercom to pick it up.  
"Hello? Are you all right? I heard a thudding noise and a grunt...and where are you?"  
For a moment he just sat their, Starfire's words not registering in his brain. When they did, he quickly sat up, brushed off his rear, and began to talk to her again.  
"Yes..I'm ok. Uum...hello...I'm John..."  
  
"Hello John, I am Starfire. May I ask again what it is you request?"  
"I...uh...um..." He continued to stammer, unsure on how to continue.  
"Well I uh..kind of...need a place to stay for a while...And I was just wondering if maybe I could stay here with you and your friends... I'll pay rent, if I have to, I'm going to school and I'll be needing to get a job so it's not like you would have to deal with me much...if you and your friends didn't want to that is...."  
  
"Oh! Oh of course you may stay here! I'm sure my friends shall welcome your company, and you won't have to-what was it? 'Pay rent?' Our residence is quite large enough to accommodate our needs, not to mention yours! Which means you won't have to work, so you'll be able to spend time with us!" Her eyes turned into upside down 'U' shapes while she said this.  
At hearing this, John let out a heavy, long sigh of relief, and wiped his hand across his forehead, moving his bangs, which were threatening to fall over his eyes. He also ran a hand through his black hair, heart beat beginning to slow down.  
"Whew, thank you so much! I'm so relieved, I was kind of lying when I said I had school, it's summer vacation for me. I promise I won't be of any trouble!" He said.  
"Of course John! Please come in so we can get to know each other, and- I believe this is the proper term-'hang, out?'" As she said this, the door slid upwards, revealing the insides of a large room. John picked up his bag, and slowly walked in, his heart beat speeding up again.  
  
Once inside the entrance of the tower, he looked around the large room. He noticed several comfortable, leather chairs lining the walls. The walls were painted a dark blue, almost black. The floor was paint in black, with a large red stripe, wide enough for several people to stand side by side, leading towards another door. John walked to it, looking around nervously as he did. He noticed a keypad next to it, and that the door was some sort of bulkhead.  
'Probably incase someone was trying to break in and got past the first door.' He thought to himself. 'How am I going to open it though?' He began punching random numbers into the keypad, each giving a small beep as he did so. After several unsuccessful tries, he tried to pry open the bulkhead himself. After grunting and pulling, shoving, and anything else he could think of, he quickly gave up. 'Ok that was stupid; it IS a giant steel door after all.'  
Still pondering on how to get past this obstacle, he tapped the bulkhead with his hand. As soon as he did this, the bulkhead opened up quickly, with a hiss. Starfire jumped outward from the other room with glee, giggling while greeting and startling John.  
"Ah!" he yelled, caught off guard. He fell backwards onto his rear again, as Starfire began to talk, her eyes still in the shape of upside down 'U' shapes.  
"Welcome John! Why are you on the floor...? Did I scare you?"  
"Just a little, I'm ok."  
  
"Then let us introduce you to the others!"  
"Well...if you insist..."  
  
Mean while, in the living room of the tower, the rest of the teenagers were sitting around. Robin, Beast Boy and Cyborg sat on the semi- circle couch watching the big-screen TV, while Raven sat at the edge of the couch, reading her latest novel.  
  
"Where'd Starfire go off to?" Robin asked, while clicking through the many channels they had.  
"She said something about a visitor-hey go back a few channels, I like that movie!" Beast Boy replied.  
"Fine, here," Robin said as he tossed the remote to Beast Boy.  
"Awesome!"  
"Wait, it's my turn to decide what to watch though!" Cyborg yelled at Beast Boy. "And I decide that we're gonna play my new VIDEO GAME!" Cyborg quickly held up a new video case, covered in a futuristic city landscape, with several suspended roads going through the city. Another racing game.  
"But I wanna watch this movie! It's like the best movie of all time! AND I have the remote!" Beast Boy began waving his arms in the air, while pointing towards the TV screen.  
"It's MY turn to decide what we do now!" Cyborg and Beast Boy quickly entered another shouting match, while Raven just sighed, shook her head, and walked back to her room. Starfire soon after entered the room, followed by a still nervous John.  
"This is the living room, where me and my friends perform the 'hanging out!'" Starfire said, still giggling, her eyes still upside down 'U' shapes.  
  
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If these chapters seem short, I apologize. I kinda have writers block right now, and I know how a lot of writers put like 10k words into a single chapter, and I'm averaging like 1k (note, k=roman numeral for 1000). So R&R, no flames and whatever. On where this story should go, I welcome ideas, because I (once again) have writers block. 


	3. Chapter Three

To those who have read/reviewed this story: thank you! It's good to know ppl care about my writing. And I just noticed that FF.net doesn't show italics! (When the words lean to the right, to show importance or something) so I apologize if it seemed confusing, because I use the italics to represent a character's thought. Sorry _ So! In order to prevent further confusion, here is a small key to help with reading this story (I've also changed the other chapters so it's easier to read/understand):  
Words in ""= a character's speech  
Words in ' ' = a character's thoughts  
  
Also sorry if Cyborg seems a little OOC, I can't remember most of his dialogue with his friends, which makes no sense because he's my favorite male character in the show (I can only replicate his arguments with B.B. almost flawlessly, since those happen frequently). So if he does seem out of character, tell me, and I'll change the way he talks/what he says.  
  
To Starbolt1218: I've been reading the Dark Tower books, which has given me inspiration to do some of my own writing, in this case, this story. I wanted my new character to have a sort of "gunslinger" feel to him (because Roland from the Dark Tower books roxxorz my soxxorz), that's why I gave him the revolvers and assault rifle (I donno why but I just really want him to have that gun... -_-), so expect some sort of action, shoot out scene between some bad guy, John and Starfire (i.e., future date=ruined by bad guys!). I also believe that I will have some jealousy between Robin and John, a stand- off kinda thing. ("All right, get out of the way. I'm going to shoot him," John said, stepping infront of Starfire, pulling out one of his large, sandalwood gripped revolvers as he did so. He pointed it at the masked boy in front of him. 'Let's see you dodge this. This isn't gonna be another one of those slow, easy to see, easy to dodge laser-blasts either my friend...') But I doubt I'll have him actually shoot Robin, maybe take a few shots (purposely missing too) but that would be the most.  
  
Allycat588: You're right! I really should describe John some more. I really have only described his hair color, and that it's at least long enough to get into his eyes, along with what he's wearing. But I also did this to let the reader associate themselves with the character a little bit (like putting themselves in the place of the character.) But I will try to describe him somehow. I also think that to make up for lack of length in chapters, I will just post more chapters (like a new chapter for every scene maybe. I think that's what I'm doing right now). I also doubt I'll have other pairings, because I don't really understand the attraction between Raven/Robin, or Raven/Beast Boy etc. The only one I understand is Robin/Starfire, but I am vehemently against that.-_-;;. (I just don't like robin that much in TT...he says so much crap to villains, it's kinda annoying.)  
  
Alygny: I'm very sure that I will have them go on a mission, and pizza parlor, things like that. Things that are good excuses for John to interact with Starfire more.  
  
Delta X: thanks for the compliment, also the idea. Somehow I'll maneuver B.B. and Cyborg into a massive argument over the game, and SOMEHOW I will get FLUFFY(!) moments between Starfire and John.  
  
**************************************************************************** ******************* Beast Boy and Cyborg were too preoccupied with their argument to notice the new comer, or Starfire. She attempted to make contact with them, to introduce John, but they simply ignored them.  
  
"Cyborg, Beast Boy, I would like to introduce my new friend, who will also be staying here with us from now on, John!" She said to the two quarrelling teens  
  
"Um...Hi..." John said nervously.  
"It's my turn to choose what we do elf boy!" Cyborg yelled again, still ignoring the new-comer and the alien.  
"Yeah well this is a good movie, tin man!" Beast Boy retorted.  
"Oh you just HAD to say that didn't you?!" Cyborg screamed, lunging at the shape shifter. There was a thick, thudding sound as Cyborg hit his friend in the stomach. Beast Boy groaned, and stepped back. Angered, the green boy changed into a giant T-Rex, letting out a loud, ear- splitting roar. Cyborg quickly backed down with a whimper, as the dinosaur began stomping toward him.  
"Oh man!" John yelled, frightened, as he grabbed Starfire by the arm, and jumped behind the couch, bringing the girl with him.  
"What is he doing!?" John half screamed, half whispered to the alien.  
  
"He is merely having another one of his fights with Cyborg, I'm sorry if he scared you. They usually argue over what to watch on the television set, or their games," she explained to him.  
"He's...not gonna eat him or anything...is he?"  
"No, Beast Boy is a vegetarian, and rarely eats anything besides tofu, but I believe I should stop this before it gets too out of hand," She stood up to address the rampaging T-Rex  
"Please Beast Boy! Stop that right now! We have a guest!"  
  
The green shape-shifter quickly reverted back to his normal form, slightly blushing and putting his hand behind his head. Cyborg let out a sigh of relief and gratitude.  
  
"Heh, sorry Starfire. Wait...I don't see a guest..?"  
  
"Uh...right here..." John timidly raised his head above the top of the couch, looking left to right as he did so. 'Giant killer dinosaurs are bad for my health.' He thought to himself, holding in a small laugh at this thought.  
"Hey dude! What's goin' on?" Beast Boy asked the scared guest. 'He acts like nothing's wrong...I guess this IS normal for them. How does she deal with this?'  
"Hey...I'm John...nice to meet you," John said, his fear receding at the playful tone in Beast Boy's voice. He brought up the courage to walk to the green boy in front of him, and hold out his hand for a friendly hand shake. 'I hope we're well met...I don't want to be eaten in my sleep or something...' Beast Boy grabbed John's hand, and shook it heartily.  
"John, let me also introduce you to Cyborg!" Starfire sang cheerily, floating inches above the ground toward the two newly acquainted friends. Cyborg walked back over to the three, and introduced himself.  
"Name's Cyborg, as I'm sure you already know," the half machine, half human said.  
"It's good to meet you man," John said, extending his hand in the same fashion he had done with Beast Boy. Cyborg shook it, being careful not to squeeze too hard. This was after all, a regular kid, like Robin. Starfire giggled with glee, happy that her new friend just became friends with two of her own friends.  
"This is wonderful! We all have a new friend now, and he'll even be staying with us too!" Starfire said, having trouble containing her happiness.  
"He will be? All right, we're gonna have so much fun! I'll be able to play games with more than one other person now! And wait until you've tried my tofu!" Beast Boy said, picking up Cyborg's new game, forgetting about his movie.  
"Tofu...? I'm not really up for vegetarian-friendly food..." John said.  
"See Beast Boy? No one wants any of your stupid tofu!" Cyborg exclaimed, glad to have another friend who didn't like tofu.  
"Can't you make anything else? You should consider us once in a while to ya know,"  
"But dude! Tofu!" Beast Boy replied.  
"Well...Actually I can cook a little, if all you've been eating is tofu," John said, hoping to catch the interest of Starfire and Cyborg. 'I need all the reasons I can get to make them let me stay here. After all, Starfire...' He thought. He had that feeling again, that one that's not quite love (in his opinion at least), but close. 'Beast Boy and Cyborg are three out of five, so I should get them to like me as much as I can, incase Robin or Raven don't want me here.'  
"You can cook!? Finally! I'll be able to eat meat again!" Cyborg yelled, filled with excitement. He hadn't had a good meat-filled meal in a long time, because Beast Boy always filled the majority of the refrigerator with cubes of tofu.  
"You wouldn't believe how much tofu we've been forced to eat because of him!" Cyborg yelled, pointing an accusatory finger at the green boy in front of him. This caused John to laugh, the thought of everyone (especially the giant half man, half machine in front of him) eating tofu really got to him, plus the look on Cyborg's face as he pointed to the shape shifter.  
"Yeah I can cook, I can make a lot of breakfast dishes, a few lunch dishes, and some dinner dishes,"  
"Could you make some lunch right now? Some REAL food?" Cyborg asked energetically.  
"If you want..."  
"This is such a glorious day!" Starfire said, her eyes bright with joy. "We get a new friend, AND a cook!"  
'Oh my god she's really cute when she's that happy...I'll have to remember to do a lot of nice things for her...' Starfire took John's hand, and led him to the kitchen. John's face turned into a deep red, his eyes centered directly on the hand leading him.  
"I..uh...but..!" He stammered, too embarrassed to say anything else.  
"Please let me keep you company while you cook! I may also be of assistance to you, and you can teach me some of your recipes!" Starfire said, eyes turning into upside down 'U' shapes again, a wide smile on her beautiful face. John was still stammering when they reached the kitchen. But after trying, he finally was able to put together a coherent sentence.  
"Well if you really want...I guess I can teach you some recipes," John said, face still slightly red with embarrassment. Luckily for him, Starfire seemed completely oblivious to the feelings John was having. "I guess you can help too, I'll need help finding the ingredients and dishes," John said to the Tameranean. She giggled again, happy to help her friend.  
"Could you tell me where the spices are? And where the meat is?" John asked, looking into a cupboard as he did.  
"Of course John, I would be happy to locate the spices and meat you ask for," Starfire said, moving down towards the refrigerator. She first pointed at a cupboard, indicating that was the location of the spices. John pulled out several of the ones he recognized. Lemon pepper, onion salt, coriander, a bottle hickory and spice liquid marinade, and a small glass bottle of "liquid smoke". Starfire then opened the door of the refrigerator, rummaged around for a few seconds, and came back with a large, packaged steak. She handed the steak to John,  
"This is the meat you require, correct?"  
"Thanks Starfire, this should be enough for five people, right?"  
"Well, Raven usually likes to drink herbal tea, and meditate in her room. But I'm sure Cyborg would be able to eat her share along with his. I have never had this 'steak', is it called? What is it like?" Starfire asked, her tone slightly filled with wonder.  
"It's kinda hard to explain...it's just a really good, quality, expensive dinner food, I guess...I can't really describe it," John said, struggling to explain the answer to such a simple question.  
"How is it prepared? Perhaps if I know this, it will help in your explanations. I would also be able to prepare it later by myself," the redhead said, looking at the meat in the packaging.  
  
"Well...usually you grill it in some way, but before that, you marinate it, to add flavor," John said. He showed Starfire the bottles and containers of varying colors of powder and liquids. He then took a knife from the knife rack, located next to the refrigerator, and sliced open the plastic of the package holding the steak. He asked Starfire to give him a large plate, she opened another cupboard, and gave him a plate. He placed the steak on the plate, and began opening the bottles and containers.  
  
"What are you doing now, the 'marinating?'" Starfire asked.  
"Yep, I'm marinating it mostly with coriander. I love coriander," When Starfire heard this, she quickly blushed, her face turning a cute shade of red. Embarrassed, and flattered at the same time, her naivety and innocence kept her from thinking John was a pervert of some kind, or just weird, which is what most girls would think.  
'My new friend certainly is quite affectionate!' Starfire thought to herself. (A/N: coriander is a spice [well duh] and Starfire's real name [at least in the old comics, I imagine it's the same in the new cartoon] is Koryand'r, which is pronounced the same way as the spice, so this is a FLUFFY MOMENT! Yeah!1). Starfire held her cheeks and turned away slightly to hide her embarrassment.  
"Why...thank you John....That's very nice of you!" The flattered, embarrassed girl said. Starfire was never so bluntly told like that by someone that they LOVED her, besides her parents of course, but she knew that was different. She was a little shocked too, she had only just met John about ten, or fifteen minutes ago, and he already had feelings for her! This was certainly proving to be an awkward, but rewarding day for her. Finding a new friend, but now he had said he loved her. But she also felt a sort of warm, content happiness at this turn of events. She had felt this sort of feeling before, during the frequent times Robin had been fawning over her, but of course Robin had never said anything close to what John had just told her. Could he really mean it? Could she even return his love? He was cute in her opinion...black hair, with bangs that kept falling over his eyes (John absentmindedly removed his bangs from his eyes again, still working on the meat). Brown, chocolate colored eyes accented his kind face. He even cared enough to "save" her from Beast Boy's rampage (if that's what you could really call it).  
"Um, I'm sorry, I have to go!" Starfire said, rushing off in the direction of Raven's room. 'Perhaps Raven would be able to help me,' Starfire thought to herself. 'I could use some of the Earth phenomenon known as 'girl-talk'.'  
"Wha? Well...if you have to..." John said, still having trouble putting together words to form a sentence. He began to work on the steak again, adding more of the spices he had collected.  
'I hope I didn't do anything stupid to scare her away...' John thought, now feeling a little more nervous at this new thought.  
  
When Starfire reached Raven's room, she tapped on the door timidly, not wanting to interrupt Raven's reading, but also needing her help at the same time.  
"Oh Raven? Raven I require your assistance," The Tameranean said, knocking again. The door slid to the left several inches, and stopped. A pale, gray skinned face, outlined by a blue cowl, appeared in the space between the door and the wall.  
  
"What?" The sorceress said, in her calm, monotone voice.  
"I wish to initiate the Earthly ritual known as 'girl talk!'" Starfire said, hoping Raven would accept.  
  
"I'm not exactly the type of person to do that,"  
"Please?" Starfire said, her eyes glowing with a kind of pleading sadness. As the only other person on the team who didn't annoy her (at least not as much as the others, Starfire was the only one who really respected Raven's privacy, besides Robin. But that was only because lately he'd been held up in his room, researching Slade), Raven thought she at least owed the girl in front of her a favor for that.  
  
"Fine, come in and tell me what's bothering you," Raven said with a sigh, opening the door all the way. Starfire let out another one of her innocent titters, thanking the caped girl as she entered her room.  
  
**************************************************************************** ******************* So, how was that? I tried really hard to make this chapter longer than the last. I'm really glad that I could squeeze the "I love coriander," Line into it, and I'm also happy with the way I described her embarrassed/flattered-ness, along with the inclusion of her need for 'girl talk' at the end of the chapter. (I think all of the good romance stories for TT have included Starfire asking a friend for advice, usually Raven.) So, R&R, constructive criticism welcome, blah blah blah, yak yak, flames suck, etc etc. (be gentle!) 


	4. Chapter Four

Authors notes: I should really proofread what I write, before I post it lol. Sorry to all those who have to deal with the errors that are in my writing. I promise to try and fix it all before I post it this time -_-. Also keep reviewing, I need to know how this story is so far, should I change the direction, etc. Also, I apologize again if now Robin seems OOC, because all though I watch all the episodes, I'm not sure what he would say in the kind of situations I'm putting him in.  
  
Disclaimer: I STILL don't farking own Teen Titans, and that sucks the big one. **************************************************************************** *******************  
  
Raven led Starfire to the bed, told her to sit, and brought up a chair for herself. Star obediently sat down, a look of embarrassment still on her face. There was a long pause, apparently the Tameranean girl didn't know how to start, or was too embarrassed to do so. Raven decided she would have to start herself.  
"So, what is it you need?" She said. Starfire's cheeks turned into a rosy shade of red, as she looked for the words to describe what happened.  
"I believe our new guest, who will also be residing with us-"  
"Wait, wait, we have someone who's going to be STAYING with us? For how long?"  
"Well...he seems nice...Cyborg and Beast Boy already like him. He's even making us our lunch today! He said he could cook also.. He said he needed a home too..." Starfire said, rubbing the side of her left arm, the rosy color leaving her cheeks.  
"Well...if he you three think he's ok, and he can cook, I guess it's ok if he stays, he'll be useful around the place. But tell Robin, I'm sure he would like to meet him. Now what is it you need?"  
"Well...I'm a little embarrassed, but I also feel quite flattered," Starfire turned away, her cheeks turning red again as if to prove her point, a smile beginning to form on her lips.  
"Come on, you came here to tell me didn't you? Tell me and I will know what to do,"  
"If you say so...John, our guest..." Starfire began... "I think he just told me he loved me!" Starfire blurted out suddenly. "And I do not know whether I should be happy, or not. Because he is quite nice...and cute..." Starfire trailed off. There was a long silence, as Raven contemplated how to continue.  
"So...if I have this right," Raven began. "Someone you just met, a BOY, has just declared that he loves you? Tell me exactly what happened," And so, Starfire did, from the first words John had spoken to her, up to the point where she left to find Raven.  
"So he called you by your REAL name? How does he know it?" Raven asked the confused girl.  
"I do not know!" Starfire said, then she suddenly gasped, "Maybe he's psychic!" She said, as she held her hands over her mouth. Her blushing cheeks turned purple, a mixture of fear and embarrassment. (A/N: this is an anime cliché. Turning blue in the face looks exactly like blushing, only it's blue. It's a way for a character to show fear, and may also be mixed with embarrassment, turning into purple [red+blue=purple]. I've decided that in order to make Starfire seem more anime-like, [she IS the most anime- ish on the show after all] that I will use more of the anime-clichés, like face vaults, sweat drops, etc.) "Maybe he even heard what I was thinking about him earlier!"  
"I honestly doubt that," Raven almost asked what exactly Starfire WAS thinking about this John earlier, but decided against it. "Now, you said he was using spices. Did you know that there is a spice called coriander? It's spelled different from your real name, but pronounced the same. Maybe that's what he was talking about; I've known several people who put that spice on just about everything they eat." Raven said.  
"Of course! How silly of me...I apologize for wasting your time Raven, this was a little drastic of me." Starfire breathed a sigh of relief, a small, white cloud of air formed in front of her mouth (a/n: this is known as a 'sigh cloud'). Her cheeks turned back to their normal, golden orange color, the one that filled John with that feeling of serene happiness only twenty minutes or so ago. Her eyes turned into upside down 'U' shapes again, feeling both happy and content that everything was normal between her and John, but at the same a small pang of regret hit her deep down. She remembered that strange, new feeling she felt when she thought John had told her he loved her. That feeling of...elatedness? Nirvana, perhaps...? Strange to the point of almost vertigo, but still pleasant...She would definitely be up late thinking about this, and how to interpret it.  
"It's ok Starfire, it's not your fault, you still have a lot to know about Earth, hell I do, and I've lived here most of my life. I don't even think most people know what coriander is. This John guy must at least be fairly smart,"  
"Oh! I almost completely forgot about John! I promised I would keep him company while he made us our lunch! He must be worried about me!" Starfire said, quickly rushing out of the room towards the kitchen. 'Well, that went as well as could be expected.' Raven thought, sitting back down on her bed. She picked up her book, and began reading again.  
  
Elsewhere, John was indeed becoming worried about his new friend. He didn't know a lot about her, but he knew enough about people in general that something must be up if they leave abruptly and don't come back after five or ten minutes. He left the steak-which he had already begun cooking, it would still need a few minutes on the low setting he was using-to go and find Starfire.  
'Man, I must have really fucked up for her to be gone this long. John thought, scolding himself. 'I better find out what I did and apologize. She's so nice; I don't want to hurt her feelings or anything.' He quickly walked off in the direction Starfire had left. He entered a long hallway, with several doors on either side. Not wanting to perhaps interrupt someone, or infringe on their privacy, he decided not to go through any of the doors. He found the hallway forked at the end, and decided on going left. More doors, and another fork, this time the left went downstairs, the right upstairs. He decided to take his chances again and go upstairs. 'Oh man, I am so freakin' lost...' He thought to himself, scolding himself for the second time in only two minutes. Apparently, part of the tower was some sort of maze, because he found himself in yet ANOTHER hallway, this one breaking off into three directions at the end. John decided to go down the middle one. When he entered the doorway, the room he found himself in appeared to be a large gym of some sort. In the center was a basketball court, located to the left of this, was a large amount of weight training equipment, with a large rack of weights. There was a masked, caped boy there doing bench presses and grunting with effort as he lifted the weights up and down. 'Guess that's Robin...better go introduce myself now if I'm going to be staying here...uuh...how do I do it though? It was easy enough with Starfire...she just kinda answered the intercom...and she helped me with Beast Boy and Cyborg...' He pondered it another moment. He decided to just wing it, say hello, ask if he knew where Starfire might be, and just generally be nice. Sure. That would work, why wouldn't it? Maybe if he even offered to spot him a little. Generosity goes a long way, after all. John let out a sigh, and began to walk over to Robin.  
"Hey! You must be Robin, right? My name's John," He said to the boy wonder.  
"Oh hey, yeah I'm-" Robin began, but then he put up the weights, and sat up. "Wait, how'd you get in here?" He said, reaching for his belt.  
"Whoa, no, no, no, no! No need for fighting, I'm a friend of Starfire! She even just introduced me to Beast Boy and Cyborg! I just thought I'd introduce myself to you, I also need to ask if you know where she is?" John asked. His face turned blue, his fear mounting. His eye was twitching, there was a nervous smile on his face, and he began waving his hands in front of him, palms outward, as if to wave off a the fight he so hoped wouldn't happen.  
"Oh...well, a friend of Starfire, B.B., and Cyborg, is a friend of mine. Glad to meet you John!" As Robin said this, John let out a sigh of relief. This wasn't going so bad after all.  
"Mutual, thanks man. I just thought I'd tell you that I, uh...am going to be staying here for a while...if it's ok with you...I've already asked Starfire, she seemed happy with it, so do Beast Boy and Cyborg. Especially Cyborg, he says you guys haven't gotten to eat meat in a long time because of Beast Boy's vegetarianism?"  
  
"Well if they want you to, I guess it's ok, since if you haven't noticed, this place is way too big for the five of us. And don't get me started on how long we've had to eat tofu, Beast boy refuses to make anything else, and he's the only one who can cook."  
"Well, actually I've just started lunch. And it's steak. Meat! Which I assume you're happy to hear? Cyborg seems pretty happy about it."  
  
"You bet I am! Come on, let's go then! I'll also help you find Starfire, but we should check on lunch first, incase it's done." Robin then jumped off of the bench, wiped his forehead with a towel, and began walking toward John.  
"Thanks, hey, could you lead the way? I only just got here like, twenty minutes ago, and I am lost beyond all comprehension." John said, chuckling a little at his helplessness. Robin nodded, smiling, and walked slightly ahead of John. He led him back to the kitchen, where John was glad to see Starfire, looking intently at the grilling steak.  
"Oh Starfire, you're back! I was afraid I scared you away somehow. Is the steak done..?" John said; glad to see the girl had returned.  
"I'm not sure how to tell if it is or is not, but you should be able to, correct?"  
"Well..." John began, laughing a little, blushing in the cheeks. "Now that I think about it, you can't really tell if it's done or not by just looking at it, you gotta cut it open." John took the steak off of the grill, and placed it on the plate he had been given by Starfire. He picked up the knife from the counter, an idea coming into his head. He was hoping to impress his new friends (and mostly Starfire, but he would not admit this to himself until later), with this idea. He bobbed his hand up and down slightly, getting a feel of the knife, and then tossed the knife into the air, rotating his hand toward him slightly, to add backwards spin to it, but not enough to cause it to arc towards his head. Starfire let out a gasp, covering her mouth. Robin clenched his teeth together, taking in a sharp intake of air out of surprise. Cyborg and Beast Boy turned their attention to them, stopping their game, which they apparently had started to play while John was gone.  
Under normal circumstances, this would seem quite retarded (at least that's how John would put it, he could be quite harsh toward stupidity at times), but he had practiced this type of thing before, gradually improving his hand eye coordination by catching smaller, less dangerous items out of the air. He remembered flipping a quarter off of his fingers, into the air and then quickly grabbing it out of the air. Afterwards, he tried the same with the handle of a bladeless knife. Next, he put on a pair of his leather work gloves, and tried the same with a normal knife. After several tries, he had got it down perfectly, and began doing it without the gloves.  
The knife's blade caught the gleam off the overhead lights, the reflection dancing wildly around the room. It flipped and spun in the air, and began to drop. When it was the same altitude of John's neck, he reached out with his open hand. The knife spun once more, and landed perfectly within John's grasp. He quickly spun around, stabbed the knife into the steak, and sliced it open, quickly viewing the inside was a slightly pinkish color, ('Medium rare, my favorite,' John thought when he saw the color)-"BAM! Hand-eye-coordination at it's finest! And voila! Lunch is served."-in one lightning quick, fluid motion. John's eyes turned into upside down 'V' shapes (sharper in contrast to Starfire's 'U' like shapes), an arrogant, proud smile on his lips. John could also be a showoff, and quite arrogant when the situation called for it. He began cutting the steak into even sliced pieces, as if everything was normal. One of his eyes cracked open as he noticed the silence, returning to it's normal shape, while the other one kept it's upside down 'V' shape.  
"What?" John asked, his smile changing slightly to show the hint of confusion in his voice.  
Sometime during his little show, Cyborg's, Beast Boy's, Starfire's, and Robin's eyes had simultaneously turned into dot-eyes (a/n: dot-eyes is when an anime character's eyes turn, well, into dots, usually out of disbelief, shock, or discomfort. In this case, the former two. You'd be pretty shocked/in disbelief if someone flipped a knife in the air, caught it perfectly, and then STABBED a slab of meat with it, and acted like nothing was out of the ordinary, wouldn't you?), while John still kept his arrogant (but now slightly confused) smile on, his eye still an upside down 'V', while the other scanned the room. Starfire was the first to break this silence, congratulating John.  
"John! That was such an amazing feat!" Starfire said, bouncing up and down in place, having more trouble containing her joy. She was clapping. ('Actually clapping she's actually clapping for me') She was completely amazed; her eyes were absolutely glowing with (love) admiration and amusement. She giggled again, the cute, innocent sound filling John's ears once again. He had that feeling again... (Love) the one from before, when he first saw her. The one that was like a kind of blissful ecstasy, but John still wouldn't admit it to be love. Not yet...  
  
They ate together on the couch, each asking John about his little knife act.  
"Where did you learn such a fascinating trick?" Starfire had said.  
"Yeah, that was sweet dude!" Beast Boy also complimented. Cyborg and Robin also made compliments, each Titan taking a turn for a few minutes to ask questions on how he did it, and to say how cool it was to see something like that in person. John told them of how he practiced with the quarter, improving his hand-eye-coordination, on up until he began using the knife, without wearing his leather work gloves. This was turning out great, John honestly felt excepted here, with his new friends. Another feeling of elation came, with a feeling that everything would be ok after all (not that he thought otherwise, as a teenager he was allowed to fool himself into thinking everything would automatically become ok in the end, because he was, well... a teenager.). He thought about the taboo subject of his revolvers, responding to the compliments with thanks, but not really listening as he debated whether or not to tell them. 'They'll have to know sooner or later, and if they find out on their own, they might think I'm some sort of killer...Besides, Robin uses a lot of weapons right? Cyborg too, hell, his weapon is built into his own fucking arm. So it shouldn't be new to them right...Hmm...Ok, I'll do it. I have to, they're my friends now, so they have a right to know...Besides, they're happy, they should understand.'  
"Hey you guys, listen for a minute...I kinda got something I have to tell you about. If you think about it, it's not THAT big of a deal, but I'd like to tell you all right now before something weird happens..." John said...then he hit a road block. A mental. Farking. Road Block. His new friends were looking intently at him, and he had no idea how to continue. 'Crap.' Third time that day he scolded himself mentally. Then he had a halfway decent idea. "Maybe it'll be easier for me to show you guys, but don't overreact ok?" John was answered by an agreement in unison from the Titans. "Alright, just a second..." John got up, placed his plate on the table, and walked over to his duffel bag, which he put behind the couch. The Titans turned around, to see what he would come back with. John squatted down, momentarily disappearing from view behind the couch, unzipped the bag, and rummaged around. When he stood back up at his full height, in his hands, were what appeared to be two shining, silver objects, obscured by the bright gleam of light they were reflecting from the lights above. John tilted the objects in his hands, deflecting the reflection towards the floor, away from his friends' eyes. The shining silvers he had held in his hands changed into the two large caliber revolvers they really were (John had been careful to hold the guns by the barrels, the handles pointing at his friends, as if he were going to give the guns to them, which he was.) Starfire, Robin, Cyborg, and Beast Boy; Johns new friends, let out a gasp in unison, as he held out the revolvers to his friends.  
  
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Ooooh, do my eyes deceive? Have I ACTUALLY made a kind of cliff-hanger? *dramatic voice*: Will John's new friends accept him as a gunslinger? Find out next time, on DRAGON BALL Z! Ok that was retarded... -_-;; I just always liked the announcer guy from Dragon Ball Z, and liked the way he kinda screamed "dragon ball z" at the end of his little speech thing. (Note for the slow: I like the show dbz, but I haven't been watching lately _)  
  
Same drill as before, no flames (actually, right now, I'm kinda hoping for like...ONE flame, just to make me feel better [Humanity needs enemies to feel secure, right? So I need at least one bad review lol....any volunteers? Either that or more constructive critisism] I've updated my other chapters, just changing a few small things around, putting ' ' when they're needed (I forgot them in atleast one place, sry) etc. I also removed the line saying John had an M-16...I was feeling a little to (what's the right word...?) 'Teenager-ey'? maybe? Whatever, just know that now John doesn't have the M-16 assault rifle, cuz now that I think about it, that was kinda stupid. Now he's more or less, a gunslinger with two big silver revolvers. (Roland of Gilead still roxxorz my soxxorz, from the Dark Tower books, I highly recommend these to any serious readers. So now John is more of a gunslinger, like Roland. A modern, teenaged one. [Roland actually became a real gunslinger when he was 14, just a lil fact]). 


	5. Chapter Five

Disclaimer: I still don't own the Teen Titans, but I do however, own my ideas, and what I write.  
  
""=a character's speech ''=a character's thoughts  
  
A/N: Dream sequence time. If it gets confusing, I'll explain what's going on. John's having a dream right now. Plain and simple. What happens before the dream will be in a kind of flashback thing in later chapters, leading up to what happened in this chapter. Just because I couldn't think of anything else to write, and because I was scrambling to update :/  
  
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John was in the living room of the tower, sitting on the couch. The others were there, sitting with him. John was completely naked, but neither of the Titans noticed, or if they did, they didn't care. Apparently John had no idea either. He saw himself, his skin, not covered by anything, but it refused to register in his brain. Starfire was sitting next to him on the semi-circle couch, happy and optimistic as ever, her emerald eyes glowing, ruby hair flowing, and he loved her for that. Something was different though...But John couldn't tell what it was, because everything seemed so perfect. Raven was there, happy as usual, talking and enjoying herself, casually propping her legs upon the table in front of the couch, her tone filled with a mixture of glee and humor. Robin was there too, with Cyborg and Beast Boy. They were, like usual, getting along with each other and not causing anything to explode or burst into flames, or arguing or yelling. 'Something wrong here...but everything seems so right too...' John thought to himself. But this thought was interrupted, as Starfire leaned over, and gave him a warm, long hug, followed by a light kiss on the cheek. Her eyes were closed, and her thick eyelashes tickled his cheek. He was in some sort of trance as this happened, a feeling of elatedness coming over him. He blushed a deep scarlet, and he forced himself out of this trance. He lovingly and gladly hugged Starfire back, taking her hand in his. She giggled happily at his affection. None of this struck a cord in John's mind, telling him what was going on. How different everything was. But who cared? Starfire was with him, and she just hugged him, even kissed him, isn't that reason enough to think of life as perfect in that moment?  
John got up to get himself a drink, and asked if anyone else wanted anything. Starfire and Cyborg agreed, both asking for a soda. John walked to the right of the couch, passing in front of Raven, who was still having fun for some unknown, unseen reason. John was half way to the refrigerator, when things burst into flames of chaos, and spiraled out of control like a damaged helicopter.  
  
There was a large explosion. Bricks and glass flew in the direction the explosion came from. The north wall of the room was destroyed, and a figure stood on the rubble of it. Slade. John didn't know how he knew who this man was, but he did. John was closest to the wall, and was thrown back against the western wall by the blast. He flew through the air, and rotated clockwise; hitting the wall with his right shoulder while his slamming head against the wall. Several shards of glass had impaled him in his side, and stomach, blown out from the window by the explosion. Hot knives of pain stabbed into him, screaming for attention. John fell to the floor, slumping against the wall, holding his side, a grimace of pain and fear on his lips. Falling unconscious, from the blood loss and pain. Falling...The darkness would begin to take hold of him soon. 'Time to Transcend the Physical, Johnny boy! You'll like it down here! Nice and warm! Won't need any of that useless blood to keep you warm down here! No sir! We'll have loads of fun down here, everything is WARM. It's ALL warm.' A strange, warbling voice called in his head. The voice then cackled wildly, a dry sound, almost like the crunching of dried, dead autumn leaves.  
John could see a figure in the air, but once again his mind refused to apply this image to any previous knowledge, and it went virtually unnoticed. Robin, Raven, Cyborg and Beast Boy were on the couch still, completely oblivious to the new threat. Slade was on top of a pile of rubble, speaking in his dark, deep voice.  
"I feel...cold..." John said weakly. But before the darkness took hold, he heard faint music. The song December, a solemn, slow, sad song by his favorite band; Static-X.  
'So this is how it ends? My friends going into battle, and I lay here, possibly dying?' Darkness was closing in around his eyes, starting at his rim of vision and closing in. He tried to fight it, to stand up, but couldn't summon the strength. In his last conscious breath, he saw something. A girl. THE girl. Starfire... 'Eyes of emerald, hair of ruby, skin of gold, all wrapped in beautiful violet dress,' He thought deliriously. She was in the air, shooting blasts of green energy at something. Then something happened. A thin, red line appeared. A bright shaft of ruby shot from the location Starfire was shooting at. It hit Starfire, and John could see it happen in a kind of unreal, horribly clear way as the darkness clouding his vision lifted, as if he just left the haze of a fog. The beam of red cut into her shoulder, and sliced its way through the other side. Starfire's eyes grew wide, filled with shock, and she fell to the ground.  
John's eyes snapped open. He swiped his hand in a downward motion, to grab his revolver out from his pocket, enraged that such a thing could happen to her. His hand came up empty. He had no pockets, or any clothing. He was completely vulnerable, and powerless.  
  
"No..." he said weakly, staggering up from his current position, holding his side. His voice was filled with fear and anger. John looked around frantically, eyes blurring, and found his duffel bag. His guns were in there, he remembered. His bag was near the couch, were the others were at, who still had no idea of what was happening to their friends. He half ran, half staggered, unable to keep a proper pace. He collapsed near the duffel bag, and opened it. In it, like some sort of pair of saviors, were his revolvers. He pulled one out, and pointed it at the figure who was standing on the rubble, Slade. Slade had proceeded to point his laser rifle at the other Titans. He pulled the trigger twice, both ruby lances hitting Raven in the side. She was completely unaffected, but Slade appeared to be satisfied, as if he had actually done what he wanted to do. He then began shooting the others, all of the ruby beams either bounced off of them, or just fizzling out when they came in contact with the teenagers.  
"Say John, how much longer until me and Starfire get our drinks?" Cyborg asked, looking back over the couch at John's battered, bruised, naked form. Apparently the teenagers were completely unaware of Starfire's plight, as well as John's. John ignored Cyborg's question, and raised his revolver towards Slade's figure. He pulled the hammer back, and pulled the trigger, but the recoil threw off his aim horribly. He was unable to control it, weakened from the loss of blood, and fear. His hands were shaking, his breathing was ragged, and he was blue in the face. He clasped his left hand over his right, to steady his aim. He aimed lower this time. He drew back the hammer, pulled the trigger. The hammer again, then trigger once more. The shots flew true this time, one bullet finding its mark in the center of Slade's chest, and then the second hitting the left side of his neck, missing his trachea. The shots hit, but did not penetrate. Slade didn't even flinch. The bullets seemed to bounce harmlessly off of Slade's armor.  
These actions caught Slade's attention. He turned toward the injured gunslinger, and raised his rifle. A lance of ruby light, beautiful in its own deadly way, reached out for John. John saw this happen in the same unreal purity he had when Starfire was (killed) hit by it ('She was killed, it's my fault.'), but he was powerless to move or try and defend himself. The shaft of red light pierced John's chest, immediately cauterizing the wound because of its intense heat. It sliced through several ribs, and his left lung, ripping its way through the other side of him. John fell backwards, eyes wide, just like Starfire's had been (when she had died), only difference was this time the irises of his eyes disappeared, destroyed by shock and pain. John hit the ground, eyes still open. John dropped his gun and gripped for the hole in his chest, feeling the hole and dried blood there. He felt hot liquid in his mouth, a coppery, alkali taste. Blood. The blood filled his throat and his mouth, threatening to choke him. This time the darkness would come, and it would never leave. Another voice invaded his conscience, but it wasn't the one from before, the cackling, dry voice. It was kind, a females voice, one John recognized, and he welcomed it.  
'Transcend the Physical with me John...I'm sorry it ended this way, but at least Transcend with me, we'll be able to be together...' Starfire's voice said in his head. It was kind, but sad, and filled with pain. John felt tears growing in his eyes. He felt them spill over his eyelashes, onto his cheeks. Somehow this was his fault, and he knew it. He failed the girl, and his friends, even though his friends didn't help him or Starfire, he knew he failed them. The darkness was almost complete now, and with his last breath, John thought back to Starfire.  
'I'm sorry too Starfire...I can't believe it has to end this way, please, forgive me.' Then the darkness took hold.  
  
John let out an enraged screamed in the darkness of night, falling out of bed, entangled in sheets. Instinct overrode his common sense, and he shoved his hands under the bed, eyes clenched tight in anger. He was still screaming, as his hands came out from under the bed holding his revolvers. He pointed them (unknowingly) towards the door, and began pulling the hammers back, and pulling the triggers, emptying the chambers of both guns into the door. Slumped against the wall, he was forcing his back against the wall, as if to get away from some unknown danger. He was shivering, breathing hard, still clenching his eyes shut, pulling the triggers relentlessly on the guns. He could feel his pulse pounding in his wrists, his neck, and especially his head. Twelve loud, booming cracks rang throughout the tower. They began to let out empty clicks; out of ammunition. Adding to his fear, John realized he had no recollection of where he was, and he didn't dare open his eyes.  
  
Starfire awoke with a start, hearing a continuous scream, followed by twelve thudding, booming noises. She jumped out of her bed, pulling some of the sheets off with her. She had been awakened by screaming before, but not this type of scream. It was filled with fear, and anger, and the noises accompanying it, she had never heard before either. She rushed to the door of her room, and knocked it down, off of its hinges with a strong blow from her opened fist (a/n: Starfire=a very, very strong girl, remember?), hurrying too much to bother with opening the door. She flew to the source of the screaming and the noises, and saw that the others were rushing to it too, all dressed in their night clothes. They reached John's bedroom door, which had previously served as a single guest room out of many. They saw the indents of bullets in the door, looking like twelve, strange metallic pimples in the face of the door. The door was made of a strong steel, but the heavy calibers of John's revolvers could still hammer bullets deeply into it. Cyborg quickly ripped the door off of its hinges, and threw it aside, worried just as much as his friends about the safety of their new friend. They saw John, half covered in his sheets, on the floor. He was against the wall, next to his bed, pointing his revolvers at the door, screaming, tears falling down his face, as he tried with all his might to fight off the demons threatening him with his emptied revolvers.  
  
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There. This chapter, was a stab at an action scene, with a some angst, and possibly some horror (like the Voice in John's head, the first one, not Starfire's). This was to show the mental troubles our friend, John the Gunslinger, has to face. Fear that somehow he will fail his new friends, to cause them to hate him, something. It was a dream, yes, that's why many things were out of place, different. (Like John being naked, Robin, BB, and Cyborg getting along perfectly, Raven being happy, only Starfire rising to fight Slade, etc) It was to represent a form of perfection, to an extent. Then Slade and the Voice, representing John's fears that he will somehow ruin everything, came after him and his friends in full force. Then Transcending the Physical, Starfire dying in front of John, which is his greatest fear of all. He just doesn't know it yet (since he won't admit the connection between him and Starfire). Tell me your thoughts on this. Keep in mind, this WILL remain a romance, I just need some action and angst in here, to let out some emotions (How many times have I said that during my a/n?). So review this. And also tell me your opinion on the song December (assuming you felt the need to listen to it), by (my favorite band) Static- X. They don't do a lot of songs like that, mostly hard rock, but when they do, it's quite emotional. At least in my opinion... . Also, don't worry, the next chapter will be a sort of reflection on John's part, so we'll know how John got his room, why he was in it, what the reactions of the Titans were to his revolvers etc. I just had to do this chapter first (like HAD to). 


	6. Chapter Six

Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans, or anything like that, because I'm poor. ;_; I DO however, own whatever ideas I write/create. A small victory for me ^_^  
  
A/N: This chapter, I started BEFORE the last chapter, which is why I spoke about "Transcending the Physical," like it was nothing new. I entered some writers block, but I had a clear vision of what was going on after this chapter, so I began to work on that, hoping that as the pieces fell into place ahead of me (the later chapters), they would do the same WITH me (this chapter). So...yeah...just thought some people might be curious about that. "" = a character's speech ' ' = a character's thoughts  
  
Also, in order to not screw with the story by having uber long A/N to explain anime clichés during the actual story, I'll put all of the ones I'm using in this chapter up here, and I'll do the same for all later chapters.  
  
Eye Blackout: When any and all facial fetures above the nose are blacked out by shadow, usually triggered by extreme anger (the calm kind), or when a character is upset or in deep thought.  
Before the Dream. **************************************************************************** ******************  
  
"You know what these are, right?" John said, nodding toward the guns, still holding them in his hands. He said it while glancing at Starfire, thinking she would be least likely to know what they were. She was after all from a different planet, and a little naive at times. Not that that was a bad thing of course. Starfire slowly reached out, and took one of the silver guns from John's hand. She ran her hand along it slowly, as if it held some sort of religious importance. She felt the smoothness of the barrel, and the rough feel of the grip.  
"These are devices to cause one to...Transcend the Physical...Correct?" Starfire had said, almost dreamily, looking at John with her green eyes, full of wonder. Yet also a small bit of understanding. She had similar devices, if you could call whatever gave her the ability to make energy form in her hand a device. Devices she had used them quite often. 'Although they're really some kind of organ probably...' John thought absently. 'Transcend the...Physical...' John began thinking about it for several seconds. He never heard someone use the word 'transcend,' but associated it with the word 'ascend'. 'Same ending...has to have some similarity in meaning...Ascend the Physical...Physical...The world...Life? Ascend life...' Then he realized what she meant. He never heard someone put it that way. It sounded almost like a good thing, if you said it the way Starfire did, like something you needed to earn, HAD to earn. Like some sort of great reward. Mystical, perhaps. 'To die...To enter the afterlife. Transcend the Physical.' John thought again. He slowly nodded, a small feeling of enlightenment filling his mind.  
  
"Yes, these do cause people to.. Transcend the Physical," He began liking the way it sounded. 'I will remember to use it at every possible opportunity.' John thought to himself, still musing a little. "But only when I don't have any other choice, and I have never had to use them against a single living thing, nor will I unless in self defense of myself, or those I love. I pride myself on knowing that," He nodded again, eyes closed, as if to signify he meant what he had said. He then gave the other gun in his hand to Robin. "They're not loaded, so feel free to look at them, get a feel for them if you want." Starfire still held the silver gun in her hand, examining it. Satisfied that she understood how it worked, she passed it to Beast Boy, who took a momentary glance at it, and passed it back to Cyborg. All three boys, who were used to seeing such things, gave them back to John, not very interested.  
"So why are you packin' heat dude? What's up?" Beast Boy said, lifting his right eyebrow inquisitively.  
"Yeah man, most teenagers aren't exactly supposed to be carrying that kinda stuff." Cyborg commented, also curious about the reason John had them. John placed his revolvers in his pockets, barrels down, handles protruding out of the pockets, as if they were a pair of holsters. There was a pause before John responded, not sure how to reply.  
"Well...I'm not sure WHY I have them, to be honest," John said, chuckling a little. "You ever have amnesia so complete you don't even know you have it, until someone forces you to remember that you can't remember? It's kinda like that I guess...I've had them for a while, they were my father's. I guess maybe when he died," Starfire looked hurt when John mentioned the death of his father, and quickly showed her sympathy, as did the rest of the teens in John's company. "Really, it's fine, I'm over it. I might have took them, just sort something to remember him by, but like I said, I'm not sure why I really did it, I can never really explain half the things I do sometimes," John chuckled again. Starfire's expression brightened a little, glad that John wasn't hurt by reflecting on something of that magnitude.  
"If you're ok with it, could you tell us what happened? To your dad, I mean." Robin asked, biting his lip as he said it, hoping not to dredge up any bad memories for John.  
"I am perfectly fine with it. You get used to not living with a father after a while, or any other member of the family. It's not the same as not ever knowing him though. Like being born blind, I guess. The born- blind person only has the most academic knowledge of what sight is like, so he wouldn't miss it. Unlike the person who goes blind later in life, whom will miss sight, but gets used to it. That's how I am, I miss my father, but I'm used to not being with him, and I've gotten over it. But I'm getting off track here. My father died, and so did my mother...when I was about...seven maybe....It all blurs together, so it's hard to tell. I was there when it happened..." John averted his eyes from contact with the others when he said this. "I saw men, or what looked like men, chasing after people. They looked like some sort of...primate or something, the way their arms were way too long compared to there bodies, and they all looked the same," 'Slade's androids...' Robin thought. "Buildings were in flames, people were dead on the ground...." Deep in thought, John's eyes became blocked out by an Eye Shadow, deep in thought as he reflected a part of his past he believed forgotten. John closed his eyes, and placed a hand on one of the revolver's handles, remembering his past.  
Robin could relate to John (a/n: I THINK, I'm not sure, but I think the Robin in Teen Titans, is Tim Drake, the Robin who's father was killed by Two-Face [I think that was his name], so bear with me on this). Robin had lived without a father and a mother for a while, but unlike John, he at least had a father figure in his life. (A/n: BATMAN!1) Robin placed a reassuring hand-or, more accurately, what he hoped was a reassuring hand-on John's shoulder. John came out of his deep thoughts with a start, and looked up to Robin with solemn eyes. 'He says he's over it, but he's really not. It hurts him deep down, and must haunt him ever day.' Robin thought as John's eyes bore into his own. Then, Robin's heart skipped a beat. John's eyes-Robin could swear on his very life, that he had seen John's eyes as dark, chocolate-brown eyes. But now...Now John's eyes were a faded, gray- blue. 'Bombardier's eyes...' Robin suddenly thought.  
"I...I gotta be alone for a while-get my thoughts straight...." John staggered to his feet, and quickly left the room, unknowingly going in the direction he had gone before while looking for Starfire.  
  
At the exact same time as John began to get up and leave, Raven was in her room, finishing her meditation for the day.  
"Azerath, Metrion, Zinthos...Azerath, Metrion, Zinthos..." Raven chanted, cross-legged, floating inches above her bed in her usual meditative pose and state. It had been at least an hour since Starfire had asked for advice on the new comer, John. If the violet-eyed sorceress could get in just a few more chants, she would be satisfied with her meditation for the day. "Azerath, Metrion, Zinthos...Azerath, Metrion, Zinthos..." Her meditation today had already lasted uninterrupted for quite the time, considering all the trouble Beast Boy and Cyborg could get in to, whether it be their shoddy attempts at cleaning, or their arguments about what to watch on the television, or what game to play. "Azerath, Metrion, Zinthos..." The hovering girl slowly lowered herself to the blue sheets of her bed, her meditation complete. She unfolded her legs, placed her fists into the small of her back and bent backwards, enjoying the sensation she felt as her vertebrae clicked into place. 'I can get so stiff from these uninterrupted meditation periods.' Raven thought, bending her neck to the right, then to the left. More cracking noises ensued. 'But it's better than having lessened control over my powers and emotions.' Raven walked over to the steel door of her room, raised a pale, gray hand, and willed it to open. Her hand glowed with a black light, and the door slid open. She left her room, and turned right, heading down the long hallway, and took another right, into the last hallway until she would reach the living room.  
  
John reached the end of the hallway leading from the living room, his head was down, a hand placed on his temple, rubbing furiously at it, in hopes of quelling the memories that threatened to surface. He absentmindedly took a left, shaking his head slightly, eyes shut tight, as more memories played themselves out behind the eyelids. Memories of the deaths of his parents. He wouldn't tell his friends about these memories, not ever. The ones of innocent people dying in front of him, as he hid from the numbers of Slade's androids, looking on in horror. He remembered seeing his mother die, and shortly after his father, both charred and blackened horribly, eyes frozen open, and glazed over. They were the looks of death, the looks given after seeing the end. 'I can't take this...I don't want this. Not now at least, with-' John's thought was interrupted, severely, as his lowered head collided with the chin of a certain cloaked girl, who was rounding the same turn as him. John fell backwards, flat onto his ass, for the third time that day, with a loud "Umph!" when he hit. Raven winced, but kept her balance, rubbing her chin. The sharp pain caused by Raven's chin seemed to have scared away the demons of John's past, and he was thankful for that; John's eyes turned back to their normal color of brown.  
"Ah, sorry, my fault," John apologized. He stood up, rubbing his head.  
"It's alright. I assume you are John? Starfire told me a little about you, and that you will be staying with us,"  
"Yeah, Starfire and the others say it's ok, and are happy to let me stay here, and I'm thankful for that. So, by process of elimination, you're Raven, right..?"  
"Yes, but what were you doing wandering around here? You say they're happy to let you stay here, and Starfire seems to like you-" Then Raven paused, and John's eyesight blurred slightly at the mention of Starfire liking him, in a mixture of embarrassment and joy, but he was careful to not blush. Raven was reading the current thoughts in John's mind. "Yes, she does like you. She's confused, as are you, but the feeling is mutual, she does like you." John could feel Raven's presence in his mind, and put up as many mental barriers as he could, in surprise and fear.  
"Get out of my head damn it! My thoughts, not yours!" John grabbed the side of his head, shaking his head wearily.  
"Calm down, I didn't see anything private...although I could sense things. You're scarred emotionally, aren't you? Something happened, and you can't get over it. It haunts you, doesn't it? And you can't get over the feeling that it's your fault, but that's all I could sense....Do you need to talk about it?"  
  
John arrived at the factory close behind the Titans, but neither John nor the group of teenagers knew of it. The factory was a large place, and the courtyard in front of it was something quite large also. John moved quickly to the main loading door of the factory, which was currently open; a loaded semi truck still in the doorway. He ducked behind the truck and peeked around the side of it into the factory. There were at least two of the long-armed androids roaming around aimlessly within the large factory walls, but were facing away from the door. John took the initiative, and ran as quietly as he could inside of the factory. There were large steel crates, filled with God knows what; a crane for moving these crates; several trailer-less trucks. There were large windows lining the upper portions of the walls near the ceiling, which was partially blocked by hundreds of crisscrossing rafters. John ducked behind one of the crates, and jumped up to grab the top of it. He pulled himself up, to get a better view of the situation. There were another three androids, about several meters left of the ones he saw from outside, they were carrying one of the crates towards the semi. John looked around more, and saw a ventilation shaft: a safe place to move around the factory. He took off the metal cover of it, and crawled inside, careful not to move too much and make a hearable noise. He crawled along the length of the shaft for several minutes, before finding himself above a room. He couldn't see much of the room, but could see one thing of importance, directly below him. The cover of the ventilation shaft was directly above a single android, which was just standing there. John couldn't hear any movement from below, and decided the robot was alone. He careful unscrewed the screws holding the cover in place, lifted the cover up, and placed it on the other side of the newly made hole. John carefully slid his way forward, swinging his legs around in the tight space. He moved into a sitting position, letting his legs droop down the hole in the shaft, several feet above the android, and pulled his revolvers out of his pockets.  
John aimed both guns carefully, each one pointing at the left and right shoulders of the android respectively. He jumped down, fired both guns and hit the android in each shoulder. Two clean holes appeared where the shoulder blades would be in a normal human and sparks flew. He landed directly onto the android, thrusting his feet downward like pistons onto its shoulders, causing further damage to the joints in its shoulders. The android was caught by surprise, and couldn't retaliate; not sure where its antagonist was coming from. The combined force of the shots from the revolvers and John's weight slamming down into it caused it to crash to its knees, a loud metallic thud reverberating through the room. John bent backwards, bent his knees, and kicked off of the android, flying backwards and forcing the android to collapse onto the ground. John landed on his left side and fired two shots from his right revolver, hitting the android in the left leg. More sparks, this time accompanied by a small fire which erupted from the damaged armor plating and wiring. The flames licked and charred the leg of the crippled robot, blackening it. John sprung to his feet and ran towards the android, which was now coming to realize the state of danger it was in. It stood shakily, the damaged leg shuddering violently, arms hanging uselessly at its sides. It turned violently, the motion causing its arms to whip around violently. John was hit on his left cheek by the robots last effort at self defense, sending John flying to the right and into the wall. He let out a scream of surprise and pain. The force of the attack spun him around and through the air. John's right shoulder crashed into the wall, and he fell to the ground with a groan. He stumbled to his feet and pushed himself away from the wall and began to run towards the android again, jumping at it, revolvers pointed right at its chest. He fired once, then again. The shots pushed back the android, rocked it on its knees. It collapsed to the floor, its left leg finally breaking under the damage and pressure put on it. John moved to the left of the damaged robot, and pocketed his left revolver.  
Now behind it, John grabbed its neck with his left arm, putting it into a kind of headlock. Unable to properly defend itself, the robotic abomination was easy prey. John pulled his revolver toward the head of the android; pointed it at the back of the head and pulled the trigger. The bullet tore its way through wiring, armor plating, gears and computer chips. The android went limp; its one good leg letting out a final twitch. John let it fall to the ground, a triumphant smile on his face.  
A thought pushed itself into John's head. 'Oh my God I'm retarded. Why didn't I just shoot it in the fucking head in the first place?' John tapped his forehead with the butt of his gun. "Duh?" John sighed, and shook his head wearily. If he was going to do this, he might as well do it right.  
  
Elsewhere, the Titans were making their way through the factory. They arrived on the opposite side of the factory, and at this rate they would meet up with John in the central room soon. 


End file.
